Time Traveling Without Warranty
by Black Madness
Summary: When Sarutobi Hiruzen found himself in the past after his death, he thought that he'd be able to change things for the better. And while he was successful in one area, he failed in another. Now, a summoning was in order for a new path to be forged. Fem!Sasuke. Large Harem. Older!Naruto x Younger!Girls.
1. Out of Wack

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_ nor do I own the Cover Image.**

 **[AN]:** I'll admit this was a pointless idea that just bounced around in my head. I ended up writing it for the hell of it.

 **Story Content Warning:**

\- _Time Traveling_.

\- _Older!Naruto_.

\- _Large Harem._ 12 girls are planned to be part of Naruto's Harem, though numbers may change in the future.

\- _Gender-bending_. So far, there's only Sasuke.

\- _Incest (I think)_ _._ Depends how you want to take it, since [Naruto x Naruko] is featured in here.

\- _Age Gap_. Most of the girls in the harem are about 6-7 years younger than Naruto, so if that isn't your thing please turn back now. I do plan to have at least one of the girls be older than him.

\- _Sexual Situations._ Kissing, petting, and all that. Maybe some hands-on lessons about sex. Stuff like that. Not right-off the bat, though.

\- _Limes / Lemons (?)_ This one's a _maybe_ for now. While I _really_ want to write one, I have never attempted one before so it may be bad.

 _ **Please be aware, if I do include lemons then there's a possibility that a few of the girls will engage in sexual acts with him before they turn 16. (Youngest limit being 13)**_

 ** _Read at your own discretion._**

 _ **You have been warned.**_

xOx

 **Time Traveling Without Warranty**

Chapter 1: Out of Whack

O

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, sat behind his wooden desk in his office. Upon that desk were stacks of documents that he had yet to look at, much to his ever dismay, and a small, framed picture of his son. He had his fingers interlaced with one another as he rested his forearms on the desk. He took a small drag of his pipe before blowing out a puff of smoke.

Hiruzen turned his face towards the left wall and eyed the calendar that was marked with X's. What his eyes were gazing intensely at was the bold X that was placed in the box of October 10th, then he looked at the year that he had not seen in a way long time - 13 years to be exact.

At that moment, a loud shriek pierced his hearing. Turning his head to the right, he found where the origin of the cries that continued to vibrate through his ears drums.

It was a rectangular cradle. With slim cylinder bars as walls and squared corners that had dulled from time, he was quite familiar with this wooden crib. The last time he had ever saw it was when he had personally cared for Naruto in his infancy stage, before he had moved the blond boy into a single room apartment at the age of six.

This did not sit very well with the Sandaime Hokage, not in the slightest bit. He felt his aging stomach churn from within him, as if urging him to stay away from there, but the rest of his body would not listen. With eyes widen in disbelief, he slowly stood up from his desk. Step by step, the former Hokage walked around his table and cautiously approached the cradle. When he was finally there, he could only stare on in amazement and confusion, too fixated that the ear-numbing shrill from the baby failed to register into his senses.

Right in the middle of the confines of the crib was a baby, just a little over a few days old, with a tuft of blond hair that he was familiar with. The newborn's small frame was wrapped in a blanket, protected from the cold and restricted from any excessive movement.

Hiruzen couldn't help but swallow the lump that was caught in his throat. A wave of nostalgia washed over him, lasting for a brief second only for it to revert back to the sinking feeling in his stomach once again. He didn't want to believe it but the evidence in front of him was just simply irrefutable.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had been sent back to the past, 13 years prior to his death.

And to him, that was just moments ago. It took a while for him to process that through his head, finishing with an exhausted breath.

Shaking the thoughts of his death from his mind, the Sandaime Hokage pocketed his pipe and focused his attention back onto the crying baby. Chuckling all in good mirth, the old man gently picked up the blond baby to cradle him in his arms and began to rock him back and forth. Hiruzen made sure his motion was as soft as a summer breeze, and even went as far as to bounce the baby in his arms.

"Heh heh heh. I never would have thought that I would get another chance to baby you again like this, eh Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen rhetorically asked, not expecting a response from the infant. "Then again, I was not expecting myself to wake up over a decade in the past."

The Sandaime's tender and soothing voice worked like a charm. The baby's cry slowly lowed into silence, as the newborn's eyelids opened up, exposing his cerulean-blue orbs to the old man.

Peering into those innocent eyes with his own harden ones strung at his withering soul. The corner of his lips quirked up slightly as a new thought surfaced into his mind.

"I guess this means I can give you a better life, now that I know what would happen if I told the village that the Kyuubi no Yoko is sealed into you."

It was a choice that was completely opposite of his procedures last wish. The Yondaime Hokage would have wanted everyone in Konoha to know that it was his boy – his own flesh and blood – that carried the responsibility for keeping the Kyuubi at bay. For Naruto to be revered by everyone as a hero of Konoha and become a symbol of the village's resilience, with the boy being depicted as tough enough to be the living and breathing walking-prison of the rampaging monster-fox.

Yes, in an ideal world Namikaze Minato's vision would have succeeded without a scratch. A flawless idea that would have had his son's name in the history books.

The only problem there was Hiruzen already knew how the people would react – civilians and professional ninjas alike.

Naruto would live a life of near isolation and solitude; endure the publicly condemned eyes of the people, and the mistreatment from shopkeepers and teachers who could not see passed their hate for the Bijuu.

Sarutobi Hiruzen decided then and there that there would be none of that. Not for a second time around.

The Sandaime gritted his teeth at those mere thoughts; keeping his face as nice as possible, away from any rage-filled expressions that might have upset the child in his arms that he had rocked to sleep. With the care of a mother, the Hokage carefully placed the baby back into the cradle. Laying sight on the blond's peaceful face was enough to strengthen his resolve to create a better life for the unwilling Jinchuuriki.

Nodding to himself, Hiruzen decided to check Minato's handiwork. While he may have trusted the Yondaime's skills in Fuuinjutsu, especially when they far surpassed his own, caution was something that was encouraged among ninjas.

He began to free the baby from the cloth restriction that was the blanket where he met a dire problem…

"WHA-?!" The Hokage was quick to choke on his words. He was baffled at the sight before him. "A-ANBU! GET THE MEDICS, GET THE MEDICS HERE, IMMEDIATLEY! AND WHERE THE HELL IS TSUNADE WHEN YOU NEED HER?!"

Four of the elite ninjas instantly dropped into the room in a crouched bow and in diamond-formation.

"Is the problem, Hokage-sama?" asked the masked ninja that was head of the formation. He was a male with a calm voice, dressed in the standard uniform for the Anbu division with a white mask that had black marking that resembled a bird.

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT THERE IS A PROBLEM!" Even though Hiruzen was yelling at the top of his lungs, the baby continued to sleep. Picking up the nude baby, the Hokage presented them the newborn with extended arms. "LOOK, HAWK! HIS PENIS IS GONE! NARUTO-KUN'S PENIS IS GONE! HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN!"

The four Anbu members immediately snapped towards the frantic old man. If it weren't for the porcelain mask that covered their faces, he was sure that each one of them would be sporting a face of utter confusion.

"DID MINATO ACCIDENTALLY SEAL IT INSIDE THE SHINIGAMI ALONG WITH HIS SOUL, TOO?! OR DID THAT BASTARD BOTCH HIS OWN SEALING TECHNIQUE ON HIS NEWBORN SON!"

Slightly afraid of his fuming village leader, Hawk stood up and called out to the Sandaime. "Uhh… Hokage-sama?" Being trained in the ranks of Anbu had hardened him to be unemotional and fearless, but even he couldn't help but slip out in an unsteady tone in his address. To be honest, he was quite surprised that the infant didn't wake up. "What do you mean by that? Girls aren't normally born with a penis, although there are cases like that. To my knowledge, Kushina-sama had birthed a healthy baby girl… you know, without the male parts…"

Hawk wasn't a medic-nin so he was pretty uncomfortable answering this.

Hiruzen stopped ranting and froze in place. Quickly and in a sedate pace, the old man rewrapped the baby in her blanket and placed her back in the crib. He turned back to his four Anbu guards while he pulled his pipe back out and placed it between his lips. After lighting it up, he inhaled it's essence before blowing out a grey puff. "A girl? Is that so…" His face stayed neutral as he acted like the past minute didn't happen. "My mistake. Hawk. Your team may be dismissed for now, I would like some time to myself."

The Anbu leader didn't answer immediately, taking a brief second to consider if that was wise. But ultimately he didn't get the option of choosing whether or not that was a good idea. He lived solely for taking the Hokage's orders. So all he could do was ask, "Are you sure, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, yes." The Sandaime waved off the man's worry. "I'm fine, it just slipped my mind that she was a girl since Minato had always told me that he wanted to name his kid after the main character from Jiraiya's book."

"Umm, the Yondaime wanted a boy named Chinpo?"

Hearing the vulgar word being passed as a name caused the Hokage to refute a bit more furiously than he intended to. "Not the Ich Icha series, you idiot! I meant the first book he ever wrote, the Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi! And that story was not smut-orientated!"

"Haaa," Hawk deflated in the face of the elder Sarutobi's reprimand. Leaning to the left towards his comrade, he placed a cupped hand on the side of his mouth that suggested that he didn't want his voice to reach the Sandaime's ears. "Did Jiraiya-sama ever write a book unrelated to smut?"

All he got in return was a wordless shrug.

Forcing himself not to sigh at the nonchalant commander, Hiruzen settled for a prolonged inhale of smoke from his pipe, then soon blew it into the air. "Forget it. Just go on a break already. I'll signal you if I need your team's assistance."

"Hai."

And then he was alone, his only company being the sleeping girl in the cradle. Turning his attention back to her, he pondered on a name for her. He didn't know if Minato and Kushina had a name if they suddenly had a girl so he would have to find a suitable one on his own…

The image of Naruto using the Oiroke no Jutsu flashed through his mind and he had to fight down a blush. Now THAT was a technique that he would never forget. Hiruzen remembered that Naruto had a name for that form, too.

"Well, I guess that name will do." Looking at the pleasant face of the sleeping baby one last time, he grinned like a loving grandfather before heading back to his desk. "Good night, Naruko."

Hawk, not seen in sight, spoke up like a ghostly voice. "Actually, Sandaime, the Konoha Council named her Natsumi."

"I SAID HER NAME IS NARUKO! UNDERSTOOD?!"

"H-Hai, Hokage-sama!"

X

Nine years have passed for the old time traveler. Nine brutally long years that involved him fixing his biggest, most guilt ridden mistakes that he had made from his passed life.

One prime example of that was Orochimaru.

In his previous lifetime, Hiruzen failed to end Orochimaru, which led the Snake-sannin to develop a hate for Konoha. The results of that were obviously bad. Konoha was invaded and he died in the same manner as the Yondaime Hokage.

The elder ninja had learned from that mistake and chose an alternative path for this almost decade-younger existence.

He had killed his student the day he had caught him red-handed inside his secret base where he was experimenting on babies to recreate the Shodaime's Mokuton. While it was true that he could have stopped his former student from kidnapping innocent children a few years earlier, he didn't. It was necessary evil, he reasoned. If Orochimaru's project took a turn for the worst just because he was earlier than he was in his last life, then the possibility of Tenzo being a failed subject wouldn't be far off the mark. Hiruzen couldn't afford that.

Tenzo couldn't reach the full potential of utilizing Mokuton like Hashirama had, only finding the height of his ability to reach a tenth of what the Shodaime could display. By comparison his Mokuton paled greatly to the original, like the difference in strength between a Genin and a Jounin.

Despite that, Hiruzen knew that Tenzo was still a force to be reckoned with. Being the only one that could use the Kekkei Genkai that seemed to be exclusive to the Shodaime, he was easily feared on the battle field since his ability was by far from being expected. And although he could only show a fraction of the first Hokage's prowess, it was enough to be a devastating tool in his arsenal.

It was also noteworthy to note that at age fourteen, Tenzo had made it into the Anbu forces – or course this was pretending like he didn't work under Danzo in the four years prior to him joining the regular Anbu.

A beep from his intercom earned his attention and the voice of his female secretary spoke through.

[Hokage-sama, the Konoha Council have already voted on the –er, ahem, policy that you submitted to them.]

Hiruzen quirked an eyebrow in partial surprise and responded back by pressing a button and speaking into the microphone. "That was rather quick, considering that I had only submitted it to them just yesterday. Usually it takes a whole week to get a document processed by them."

[…why yes, it was answered awfully fast, but I suppose you, uh, caught their attention?]

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes from hearing the uncomfortable tone that was used by his secretary. It was like she really didn't want to be the one to tell him the results of his submission. "Yes, I suppose you are right. But as Hokage, I must make extreme decisions for the good of the Konoha and her villagers. Now tell me, what is their answer?"

[Ah! Uuuuuh, are you sure you don't want me to send someone up to your office with your document? Because I have someone here that-]

"That is alright, no need to burden anyone with my paper work," the Hokage quickly stated, cutting her from finishing her sentence. "I am an impatient man anyways, so please tell me if they have approved of my idea."

[…no.]

"…WHAT?!" he exclaimed in rage. "Wha- what do you mean 'no'?! Are you telling me they disapproved an idea that would skyrocket the forces of Konoha in such a short time?!"

[Yes. And I agree.] Her voice was noticeably firmer now, like she had absolutely agreed with the decision made by the Konoha Council.

"Insolence!" the Sandaime screamed out, pointing an accusing finger at the intercom. "How could you agree with such a pair as indecent as them?! Have you betrayed your Hokage?!"

The secretary sighed through the intercom as she answered. [Of course not, Hokage-sama. But they have an irrefutable point on this matter.]

"Damn!" The old man slammed both hands against his desk, sending papers flying all around the room as he hunched over. "Damn you, Council! Damn you all to hell!"

[Please be understanding, Hokage-sama. No matter how you look at it, you are too old to participate in any Clan Restoration Act.] Actually, she thought that the idea overall was plain stupid, motivated by pure lust, but seeing as she was talking to someone as respectable as the Sandaime Hokage the secretary tried to be gentle with her words.

"Nonsense! I'm confident that my little swimmers could squirm their way through the toughest of storms! Not even the great whirlpools of Uzushio could stop them! Bwahahaha!"

[…]

"…hello?"

[… … …]

The secretary couldn't answer him. Her head was too deep in a bucket as she felt her stomach lurch painfully.

Seeing as the conversation ended, Hiruzen began to calm himself down. It would be unbecoming of a Hokage to be hit with a heart attack. All because he was complaining about his little harem-making policy failed to be passed.

He would keep resubmitting it, not because he had faith that it would one day pass, but because he loved to annoy the hell out of his fellow peers, the few he had left from the days where he was a mere fresh Genin. It was something that he had missed out on in his other life where he was more cautious towards them and another reason to be thankful that he had come back to the past.

A hard series of knocks drew his attention before the door was opened none too softly. The Hokage's face never shifted, he expected her to be in a brash mood right about now due to him continuously postponing her mission.

Stomping into the middle of the office was a 21 year old woman whose beauty could not be copied. She was slightly shorter than most adults standing at 5'5" and she had a body that curved in the right places, along with a heavy set of breasts that would never go unnoticed. She had light brown, pupil-less eyes, and short black hair that was kept in a spiky, fanned-ponytail.

She was dressed in her usual garb: a tan overcoat that was worn over a fitted mesh body suit that stretched from her neck down to her thighs, a dark orange mini-skirt with a dark blue belt around her waist, grey shin guards that protected most of her leg, and forehead protector that was partially covered by her bangs.

Looking over towards the peeved kunoichi nonchalantly, Hiruzen welcomed her with an easy-going smile. "Ah, Anko. It's nice to see you again. What might I help you with today?"

She clicked her tongue in return as she stood there with her arms crossed and one foot tapping against the wooden floor, looking not too happy at the moment.

"Hokage-sama," she greeted back in an even tone, anger masked from her voice. As much as she would have liked to scream profanities at the old man behind the desk, he was her superior. He was a man who deserved all the respect in the world for his great feats, including cultivating Konoha in what it was today. "I'm here regarding the mission that I was informed of… two… weeks… ago." The last three words were spoken through gritted teeth. "You know, the one where I get to raid Orochimaru's bases."

"Ah, yes, that one." Hiruzen shifted in his seat, purposely delaying her out of quilt from his heart. Unfortunately, that did little to ease him. His next words would certainly not be well received. "Not yet."

Like a thin branch failing to support excessive weight, she snapped. Anko stomped hard against the floorboard, earning splintering wood for her action. "Like hell I'll settle for an excuse like that again!"

In the blink of an eye, she was surrounded. Four Anbu operatives boxed her, tanto's drawn and ready to taste blood. She may have been from Konoha, the same as them, but the four masked ninjas would put down anyone that posed as a hostile threat to the Hokage without hesitation.

"Stand down, Hawk," ordered Hiruzen. He showed a calm demeanor in this situation. It was understanding that she would be pissed at his words, especially when it wasn't exactly the first time he had used them on her. Ever since then Anko had been asking for the green light to start the mission and every time he answered with the same two words that did nothing to explain his reasoning. 'I should have waited for Jiraiya to come before telling her. I never thought that perverted student of mine would be this tardy.'

The Anbu commander never shifted his eyes away from the Tokubetsu Jounin. "If that is your order Hokage-sama."

"It is."

"…understood."

They were gone just as quick as they came. It was only Hiruzen and Anko in the room. The latter began to talk.

"What was the point of telling me the specifics of the mission if you're not even ready to let me take it? You know how antsy I am when it involves stuff related to that snake bastard." She rubbed at the back of her neck to ward off the sickly prick she felt there. "It's hardly my fault I'm impatient, you know. It's like you tell your kid in advance that his birthday party next week is going to be held at a carnival, but you keep pushing it back because of some stupid reason like it was raining that day or you had to work late."

"Ah, yes, I know how that feels all too well, as a matter of fact." The old Kage could remember those horrid days were Jiraiya would keep delaying the new releases of Icha Icha. He remembered that one of the reasons was because the Sandaime Hokage had over-worked him, thus leading to a lot of hate-mail from smut fans everywhere. How the hell did they get his address? Whatever. Those were dark times that Hiruzen would never want to head back to. "You are right. What I did was very wrong and I will try to avoid doing so in the future."

"That's appreciated and all but I'd like to know the actual reason as to why you're making me wait."

A hum of consideration filled the silent office. "Alright. Another person will be assisting you with your mission, but he has yet to come. Jiraiya was supposed to have brought him hear a few weeks ago, but as you can tell, he didn't. Knowing that perverted student of mine, he's probably visiting every brothel on the way here."

"Great. So I'm stranded in this village while I anxiously wait for my partner whose being led here by none other than the gallant pervert? How enjoyable – woohoo." Anko made no effort to hide her sarcastic and lackluster attitude. "Why do I have to wait for one when I could just take when that's in the village already? I mean we have a ton of them and I'm sure they're not all going to get sent out for a mission today?"

"While I am sure that any one of our Jounin would be sufficient in assisting you with exploring the bases of Orochimaru, this person has quite a bit of history with him."

Anko stayed silent for a bit. It's been some number of years since she and her old teacher parted ways, on bad terms at that. As far as she knew, the only ones loyal to Konoha who could say that their beef with the Snake-sannin was personal were her, the Sandaime Hokage, Jiraiya, and Tsunade. Out of that handful, two were not permanent residence of the village. And since Jiraiya would be leading Anko's companion, that only left…

A light bulb went off in her head, her eyes widened with a sense of realization. "Wait. Is it Tsunade-sama? She's the one that I'm partnering-up with?" Anko asked in bewilderment at the prospect of working with someone as highly renounced in the ninja world as the Slug-sannin.

One of Hiruzen's eyebrow was raised at her sudden conclusion, though understood, somewhat. "It has been relatively long since I had last spoken to her, and from the last letter that Shizune wrote, they are currently on the run from loan sharks." He chuckled in amusement, sending thoughts of prayer to the poor apprentice. "So to answer your question: no, it is not Tsunade."

Anko gazed down at the floor. "It's not her… then who…" She couldn't think of any other viable individual in Konoha besides the few she had already named. While Orochimaru did have more acquaintances, the only others she could name were not from Konoha. "Hold up. Are you telling me that I'm going to be paired with someone _not_ from this village?"

If it was true, then she didn't like it. It would give that person a chance to look over dangerous material that would end up becoming a future harm to Konoha. Orochimaru was a jutsu-obsessed maniac with no qualms about crossing forbidden boundaries. Much so that he had been developing a way to become immortal – with the price of having to inhabit a body every five years – just so he could have extra time to thoroughly learn every technique in existence.

Although it was left unfinished – death at the hands of Hiruzen preventing the the technique from being complete – someone else could pick up where he had left off. If an outsider could get their hands on that, take it back to their village and fill-in the blanks, then…

Before her mind jumped the gun, the Hokage interrupted her.

"Not precisely."

"Not precisely," Anko repeated with a small look of disbelief in her eyes. "What do you mean by that? He's either loyal to Konoha or he's not. There can't be an in-between, even if this person's from an allied village."

"Well then, this young man would be an exception." When the tokubetsu Jounin didn't answer him, Hiruzen took that as the que to explain himself. "He is not from another village, so you won't have to look over your shoulders in his company. And while he is not from this village, I can assure you that he is loyal to Jiraiya."

That gave the kunoichi pause. She didn't like the idea of teaming with a ninja not from Konoha, given the circumstances of the mission, but it was different if it was someone that the Toad-sannin trusted enough to let him near Orochimaru's bases.

"Well… fine," Anko conceded. She figured that it was someone that was part of the hermit's spy network. "I guess that's good enough. But I'm warning you, if he tries anything funny then Jiraiya-sama's gonna have one less friend around him."

"Of course," Hiruzen nodded in agreement. "No good would come to Konoha if Intel from my former student should leak out."

"And if you don't mind me asking, Hokage-sama, why is it that Jiraiya-sama is sending someone else instead of going himself? I mean, he and Orochimaru used to be teammates and close friends, right? So wouldn't it make more sense that he'd want to personally inspect these secret bases? You know, to cover up anything that could potentially sully the great Snake-sannin's name?" Besides the slip of sarcasm to the word 'great', Anko asked a serious question.

To shed a little background, Orochimaru's death was quick and painless. The moment Hiruzen had stepped into that snake's lab with a squad of Anbu members, the old man had killed him on the spot – no questions asked, not that it was necessary.

When the news of Orochimaru death was told, Hiruzen stated that his death was a result of taking an S-rank mission. The Hokage had lied and chose to keep his former student's crimes against humanity under wraps. The only ones to know of the truth were Hiruzen, all Anbu personnel, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Anko.

While he thought that the world would be a better place without Orochimaru, he didn't have the heart to expose the Snake-sannin's true face to the world and Jiraiya was in agreement.

 _"He's dead already. This information would have been usable if he had become a missing-nin but he didn't so what's the point. Why destroy everyone's image of Orochimaru – a smart, cunning, formidable shinobi who was feared by enemies, loved by his village, and respected by both? All it would cause is heartache to Konoha, and laughter and belittlement from other villages for producing such a deranged man."_

Those words… didn't Jiraiya feel that way anymore?

Of course, Anko herself couldn't give two shits about tarnishing her teacher's reputation. If she had it her way, she would have exposed it to everyone just so others could hate him even in death, but that was just her bias view. Orochimaru had made the first few years of her Genin life like hell.

"It's not that he doesn't want to keep preserving his late and former friend's name, but other things are beginning to take priority over anything else for him. He will be meeting with his spies for quite some time from now on. I'm sure that if he didn't have more important things to do then he would have gladly joined you on this assignment."

"I see." Anko nodded her head with a serious face that she had been maintaining for a while now. "I understand, Hokage-sama, but if it isn't too much of me to ask, when do you think he'll be here?"

"Hmmm." Taking out his good ol' pipe from his pocket, he proceeded to insert it into his mouth before lighting it. Blowing out smoke, he answered, "In a few days. I'll make sure of it."

Anko nodded, somewhat crossed in whether she should take his word for it or with a grain of salt. The kunoichi walked out of the room with nothing more to say, leaving the Hokage alone.

Seemingly alone.

He didn't turn his face away from the door to the presence of his student that was just outside the window, behind the wall. Hiruzen knew he was there all along. His eyes narrowed in threat. "Are you going to come out now? Or do I have to use Konoha's most lethal jutsu on you?"

Jiraiya scoffed as he entered through the opened window with a noticeably large red scroll strapped to his back, choosing to take occupancy over the chair in front of the Hokage's desk. "Oh please, the Sennen Goroshi is overrated. I've had worse at the hands of woman in brothels." Jiraiya momentarily lost himself to perverted thoughts as he chuckled. "Oh boy, do they have a way with their hands."

All Hiruzen did was snort in amusement, followed by a small puff from his pipe. Years of knowing his student, training him under his tutelage, had accustomed the old Hokage to his student's eccentric behavior. "That may be so, but they can't ignite their finger on fire, can they?"

Jiraiya snapped out of his stupor. A flaming finger to the asshole? No thank you. "Point taken."

They both shared a chuckle in good humor. A few years had passed since they last joked around like this, mostly because Jiraiya had a spy network that he had to keep in track with on the daily, and even though not much was shared between them, it was a moment that they would savor. They both knew this scene between them wouldn't last long. After all, if Jiraiya ever visited a village, it was never for long. He was just here on business.

"All good fun aside," began the Hokage as he gathered himself into a more professional visage, his student following suite. "What took you so long to get here? If I am not mistaken, the message you sent to me said you would be here a few weeks ago. I hope you have a good reason for your delay or else you will be the one explaining to Anko why she had to wait half a month to finally depart for her mission. An important one to her, if I may add."

Hiruzen imagined that the girl would try to castrate the poor student of his, probably with a rusty kunai if she felt like using a page from the Torture and Interrogation Force. God have mercy if she ever chose to pursue that division.

"Woah, woah, woah." Jiraiya waved a hand towards his former teacher. "Hold it right there, sensei. First of all, I never said to tell her about it before I got here. And second, I do have perfectly good reason to why I was late." Seeing the old man raise a questioning eyebrow, he pulled out a book. With a cheeky smirk he simply answered, "Research~."

Recognition lit up in the eyes of the old Sarutobi. "I-Is that t-the newest-!"

"-Installment to the Icha Icha series? Yup!" The sage fanned himself with the book as he leaned on the edge of the desk with an elbow. "My latest and greatest work, if I do say so myself. After all, my inspiration did come from a kunoichi village."

The Sandaime held himself back from snatching the book from Jiraiya's taunting hands, silently cursing him from showing it while his Anbu squad was observing them from the shadows. Unlike Kakashi, who didn't mind to let people know what his taste in literature was, Hiruzen was more mindful of the people around him, and as Hokage, he didn't want to give off a bad impression. Besides, he would have plenty of time, not caring once he retired – again. All he needed to do was find a replacement.

Coughing towards his left to regain the little he lost, the Sandaime decided to get straight to business. "Whatever reason you have for your lateness can be looked over for now, we must focus on the current situation." He glanced at the scroll on his student's back. "Is that it?"

"Yeah. This is it."

"So it's finally time, huh?" he murmured. The Hokage took the pipe from his mouth and alerted his Anbu to stay put while he and Jiraiya stealthily headed to a certain spot for privacy.

Specifically speaking, the forest clearing where he had witnessed Minato and Kushina sacrifice themselves for their newborn – for Naruto in his last life and for Naruko in the present one.

X

Where did it all go wrong for this to happen? To the point where they had to use unethical means to accomplish a better future?

Although there was no solid answer anyone could give him, Hiruzen would have to say it started the moment he changed history. And then he did it again and then again. Three events he had experienced once before were changed, their outcomes completely flipped to ensure that he wouldn't have to re-live through those few dark moments of Konoha's history.

At the beginning of it all, his actions seemed like the right answer to every significant problem that plagued the village in his past. Thirteen years of advanced history had been taken with him to the past and, in his eyes, he had corrected nine years of it. A faster way to peace was accomplished, he thought.

Unfortunately, another individual thought differently. And it just happened to be the Great Toad Sage, Gamamaru.

It had been merely a few months ago since Hiruzen had learned this. What he thought was going to be a day visit from his student had turned into a short leave from Konoha to visit the oldest toad in existence.

And while it was pretty much a waste of time, he found it to be a relaxing experience. About a week was spent away from bland paperwork, boring meetings with the Konoha Council, and other less enjoyable duties. He had Gamamaru to thank for that, since the old amphibian kept slipping into a peaceful sleep after every few sentences, where he and Jiraiya found themselves reintroducing themselves at the times the toad had awoken.

By the end of the whole trip, Hiruzen came back to Konoha a little more troubled than he would've liked, especially since the trouble he was told about was something he supposedly caused.

Basically, Gamamaru had given a prediction that the Child of the Prophecy would be unable to bring about peace if he/she chose that path. The toad indirectly stated that Hiruzen was the cause for this. Apparently, the Sandaime had shifted one too many events out of place that the peace that was sought for by many was beginning to stray far from arm's reach.

Gamamaru had a good track record when it came to prophecies, so Hiruzen took the information with a grain of salt and remained silent.

Jiraiya was briefly confused during their conversation, since it seemed like they knew something he didn't. When Hiruzen revealed that he had been forcibly dragged back in time, Jiraiya had easily accepted it.

The Great Toad Sage said that there was a solution to this and that it laid in a summoning scroll located way out of bounds of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. A bit of hesitation and long winded debate later, Jiraiya had set off for the item of desire, leaving Hiruzen waiting patiently and anxiously as he resumed his role as Hokage.

"It's done sensei."

The old man blinked out of his thoughts and looked towards the middle of the area where his companion had called him from. Jiraiya was kneeling in front of a large unrolled scroll with a black-tipped ink brush in hand.

Pushing the gnawing uneasiness to the side, he met his student's eyes with his own and gave a nod. "Start the summoning."

O

 **Brief Summary:** Sarutobi Hiruzen traveled back in time 13 years ago, a few days after the Kyuubi attack. Over a 9 year period, Hirzuen tried to fix the biggest mistakes that were done to Konoha. It turns out that his interventions did more harm than good and now he is forced to summon someone that would help make up for his mistakes.

 **[AN]:** I don't really know what else to say. Naruto wasn't in this chapter, I apologize for that. He will appear in the next chapter.

About the harem, would you like to know who I plan to put in it?

That's all I have to say. Later.


	2. The New Past

**[AN]** Incomplete harem list located at the bottom.

This chapter has not been edited or proofread. Please beware of grammatical errors.

xOx

 ** _Time Traveling Without Warranty_**

 _Chapter 2: The New Past_

O

The moment Jiraiya's hand struck the chain of black inked characters that formed ripples of circles, Sarutobi Hiruzen had kept a firm, unshakable gaze on the center of the scroll where something would appear. A surefire way to get rid of the problems that he had unknowingly created.

As soon as the Toad-sennin leapt back from the scroll, blue electricity burst alive from the calligraphic writing, settling into a constant output of energy. The grating hum that accompanied it buzzed through the air, loud and viciously. After a few seconds, smoke exploded from the seal as the electricity instantly died at the same time.

Hiruzen could feel his old heart beat a second faster than before. His moist palms resisted the urge to dig into his pocket and slip his pipe into his mouth, choosing to withdraw himself from using tobacco as a means to ease his tense nerves.

Any person would feel the same as him in this situation, right? Being the man who was supposedly responsible for destroying a peaceful future, it wouldn't be too unreasonable for him to worry over what this scroll would summon. After all, it was meant to redeem him.

The only thing was, that wasn't the cause of the anxiety that slowly built up within him. No, it had specifically to do with who would be summoned.

While he was all for giving the next generation of Konoha's people a pleasant, war-free future, he couldn't possibly find it in himself to accept that true and everlasting peace could ever be accomplished. Hiruzen was much too hardened by decades of gritty, bone-grinding, nerve-wrecking experience as a ninja to see eye to eye with Jiraiya. How his student didn't feel the same way was beyond him, but he had an inkling that part of the reason had to do with those summoning toads and their senjutsu training.

As the thick smoke that hid the ground he stood on began to slowly dissipate, Hirzuen thought back to his conversation with Gamamaru. The Great Toad Sage had hinted to who would possibly be summoned, and went as far to state that it was someone important to him from his past life.

While the elder Sarutobi had come across hundreds of individuals that possessed strong and good hearts, he couldn't imagine even a fraction of them that would be capable enough to be considered a savior – in a sense.

Who could it be? God, he hoped it wouldn't be Jiraiya, there was no hate for him. One 'Super Pervert' was enough to deal with, honestly. And then the most logical choices were the two deceased Hokage's – his predecessor, Hashirama, and his successor, Minato.

Both held nothing but good intentions for Konoha, and those same intentions extended to the rest of the hidden villages. Hashirama went as far as to distribute the Bijuu's amongst the remaining four major villages. A stupid action, Hiruzen thought, but he could see the Shodaime's reasoning if he looked at it from another light. Trust them with super-powered chakra-monsters and they'll learn to get along with another.

As for Minato, all there was to tell from him was that he was considered to be the Child of the Prophecy. If not one of them is enough, then why not two? Unfortunately, Hiruzen couldn't come to believe it was him after he witnessed the Yondaime sacrifice himself.

Although he liked his former sensei, Tobirama was a realist, so it went without saying how he felt about 'world peace' if you looked into Hiruzen's mindset.

Strange enough, none of them were the first to come to his mind when he was given the hint. It was a blond boy with whiskered cheeks for one reason or another, the very one boy who strived for recognition and acceptance. And that was who he was expecting.

Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled mirthfully as the smoke had mostly cleared the area and a single body was laid belly-down and unconscious across the scroll. It took him a few seconds to walk over to him, but when he arrived there, all he could do was offer the boy a warm smile as a tear ran across his cheek.

"Looks like you've grown up quite a bit Naruto."

The boy's hair was a mess of blond spikes, and he wore a black and orange tracksuit that was in tatters. A black forehead protector was tied around his head with the Konoha insignia engraved into the metal plate, a pair of black shinobi sandals covered his feet, and a kunai pouch was strapped around his right thigh.

The scratches and bruises did not go unnoticed by either of the two ninjas in the area, but judging by the boy's peaceful face, he was in the middle of well-deserved rest.

Jiraiya was standing across from his teacher as he, too, looked at what the scroll had summoned. His ears picked up the sentence that his companion had whispered under his breath. Without look away from the blond, he asked, "You know him sensei?"

"Yes," answered the Hokage without any hesitation. "He's Uzumaki Naruto, Minato's and Kushina's son. Well, from my future it seems."

He had a hard time judging if his own situation was time-traveling to the past or time-traveling back to the past in another universe. But considering the only important difference he met here was a gender-bent Naruto, along with a certain Uchiha, there was absolutely no other distinction to note, so it was safe to just call it the past.

"So Naruko was 'Naruto' from where you're from, huh?" the Toad-sennin mused to himself, before a grin broke out on his face. "I like it! I'm glad to know there's someone honoring the name of my main character from the very first book I wrote."

Hiruzen hummed in agreement. A great read filled with action and drama that young adults would find enjoyable. Too bad it was underrated.

"Well, no use staring at him while he sleeps." In a rare display of defying his old man appearance, the Hokage swiftly propped the boy onto his right shoulder with ease. "Let's go. I know a more suitable place where we can privately talk to Naruto about the situation."

"Sure," Jiraiya agreed before adding his two cents. "And while we wait for sleeping beauty to wake up, how about you tell me somethings about your other life? I've never really got a chance to ask about it since I had to retrieve the summoning scroll."

The Sandaime hesitated for a second, not sure whether to tell his student about the differences from this life. "I… suppose it couldn't hurt. In return, watch over the boy until he wakes up."

"Sounds fair enough," Jiraiya agreed. It wasn't like he had any plans to leave the boy alone in the first place. Who knows how a time-misplaced ninja would react, especially if his personality with similar to the ever-energetic Naruko.

With a deal made, both traveled in silence.

X

Uzumaki Naruto awoke.

And almost immediately, he felt his body being seized with pain and soreness. While it was dull at best, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with such a thing. It wasn't that the discomfort would hamper his abilities as a ninja in anyway, although he'd admit it was an annoyance; the blond had powered through similar aches before.

But if he was in a condition that affected him to this level, then it meant that he would be waking up in a hospital. A place he hated to be at because of its bland and critical atmosphere. If Naruto could escape he would, but with Tsunade in Konoha, he would be forced to stay, indefinitely.

To his supposed luck, the moment he opened his eyes and looked up at a non-white tiled ceiling, he swear if he could he would have jumped and kissed it. Of course his body kept him from making that thought literal. Add to the fact that it took him a second to catch on to the oddity.

What we he doing here?

The last thing he could recall was him defeating Nagato and having a heart to heart clash of point of views with the man. He was able to convince the red head with his head-strong conviction that he adopted from his late sensei, Jiraiya, and managed get everyone that died during Pein's attack revived.

After he watched Konan retrieve the Deva's path body, she gifted him with a bouquet of paper-made flowers before she left. Then he made a memorial for Jiraiya and left those flowers and a book of 'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi' by a rock with the kanji for "teacher" written on it. Then, somewhere along his trip back to Konoha, he was hit with a heavy sense of fatigue, too much for him to bear that he fell into blackness.

With a small growl through his clenched teeth, Naruto hefted himself onto his right elbow, successfully twisting his body to lie on his side. From just touch, the blond already knew he was on a mattress and it was only through sight that he found a wooden railing only half a foot high traced on the edge of the bed. Almost like a spacious crib.

Naruto rubbed his eyes with his left hand, ridding himself from sleepiness before he let his blue eyes take-in the room. Overall, it was large and roomy with just a few things here and there.

To the farthest of all the walls, the one that faced him, a shelf was placed center at height that even his 13 year old self could reach. Half a dozen pouches like the one he wore were on top, neatly next to one another; Naruto could safely assume that they were filled with kunai and shuriken. To the left was a closed coat closet and to the corner-right was a desk with a few pictures turned over and scattered.

Hanging from the rafters and in front of the shelf by a string was a weird three-pronged kunai. The projectile was slightly bigger than the standard issued ones, even looking heavier at a single glance, and there were black markings across its handle. His blue eyes were glued there.

Doing the best he could, the boy crawled towards the bedside, stuck a leg over the rail before the rest of his body followed suit.

Naruto was sock-less as his feet touched the wooden floor, a thump every time he hit the smooth surface. Step after step, he advanced slowly towards the custom-made kunai. There was only one person in the world he knew that had a kunai like that and the boy had met the ghost of that person hours ago, when he was just about to give in to the Kyuubi and let the fox out of its cage.

Finally arriving with-in arm's reach, the blond Uzumaki brought his right hand up-and-close towards the three-pronged weapon. Showing gentleness as though he was touching something fragile, the boy tapped the kunai on the flat-side as if he was unsure whether or not it was just his imagination.

Lightly, the blade rocked.

It swayed from the string it dangled on, barley turning as it did so. The light reflected off the kunai before its movement became still again and he saw himself in the reflection of the blade's edge.

"The Yondaime's… my dad's kunai," Naruto uttered in a shallow voice.

Namikaze Minato had recounted that certain day on October to Naruto. While it was a horrendous day for Konoha, it was a special one for the boy; after all, it was his date of birth. The Yondaime told him about the masked Uchiha that freed the Kyuubi from his mother and how he fought the man away from Konoha.

Then there was the climax with the Kyuubi being sealed into Naruto. Throughout the whole story, Naruto noted the Hiraishin as one of the most powerful techniques in his father's arsenal, a move that was able to teleport a Bijuudama and the Kyuubi outside of the village.

Naruto pinched the tip of the kunai between his index finger and his thumb, his eyes examining it features. "Where am I?" he quietly questioned to himself. "And what's my dad's kunai doing here?"

Before he knew it, sunlight hit the left side of face and his touch left the weapon and he tried to shield his face with his left arm. The boy's eye responded by cringing to a close, his face turning away from the source. There was a creak before it was punctuated by a slam of a door.

With the brightness gone, Naruto let his left arm fall to his side. He turned to meet the person who came inside and he froze, blue eyes dilating just a tad bit.

"That is a simple question with a simple answer, Naruto-kun."

A voice he hadn't heard in years entered his ears as he stared at man garbed in a white and red garbed with large red hat on his head. Naruto blinked once, proceeded to rub his eyes before blinking again. The man he had looked up to as a grandfather, the Sandaime Hokage, was standing there. Right in front of the entrance, smiling like Naruto always remembered. It felt so reassuring.

"The reason your father's kunai is here is because this is his safe house," Hiruzen answered.

The normal response for anyone in this type of situation would have been to play-off the supposedly dead old man as a trick of the eyes, or even to do as far as believing it to be a ghost.

Naruto did not do any of this. Instead, the blond boy closed the gap between the two of them with just a few strides and wrapped him in a strong hug. There was no hesitation in the younger male's part, he was absolutely sure that it was the Sandaime in his arms. It wasn't long before his embrace was reciprocated by the elder that tears began to fall down his whiskered cheek.

A chuckle left the Sarutobi's lips. He was all too amused by the boy's sudden and thoughtless action. "While I don't mind the warm gesture for our reunion, I find it worrisome that you would up-and-go hug me like this simply because of a familiar face. How do you know if I'm not an enemy ninja in a henge or that you're not caught in a genjutsu?"

Naruto wiped his tears on the Hokage's shoulder before he broke away from the old man. Scratching the back of his head with a sheepish face was all the boy could offer. "Sorry, jiji. I wasn't thinking when I saw you. It's been a long time since I've seen you, after all, so I was kinda surprised."

"That's not the right attitude for a professional, Naruto," reprimanded Hiruzen, causing the boy to look down towards the floor in disappointment. At this, the elder cursed himself for getting softer over the years. "I'll look over it just this once but make sure you are more mindful in the future or I'll see to it to make you wish I was dead. Understand?"

Naruto chuckled softly once again. "Loud and clear." It felt nice to be reprimanded by him again. This time because he missed the Hokage, not because he wanted the attention. And then it hit the boy. His faced turned into one of confusion. "Wait, how can I see you if you're supposed to be dead? Are you a ghost?!" An answer came to mind and the blond shivered in fright. "Oh god, am I dead? Did I die, already?!"

A chop to the head stopped the boy's fears dead cold. He yelped an _"ouch!"_ and rubbed his head as he looked at Hiruzen for an answer.

"What was that for, jij?"

Although a bit peeved at being referred to in an informal manner, the Sandaime didn't voice it since the blond wouldn't be himself if he did use formal honorifics. It was welcoming to know that the boy hadn't changed much with age, given that he, himself, had already changed a significant amount of Konoha's history.

"A ninja should always be calm, even when faced with an unexplainable situation," Hiruzen lectured to the boy who could only reply with a nervous chuckle. "And to answer your question, Naruto-kun, I am not a ghost and you are not dead. The both of us are very much alive."

The boy couldn't understand no matter how hard he tried. That couldn't be possible – _shouldn't_ be possible! Naruto couldn't find any other reason as to why they were face to face to each other. "But then… how?" There was desperation underneath that question. Not obvious but subtle.

Not interested in beating around the bush, Hiruzen answered in a simple sentence. "I have summoned you into the past. Judging by how old you look, I would say about six or seven years. Just know that you're about nine years old right about now." With that revelation, he decided he might as well tell the boy about his own situation. He did show the boy that he knew him. "I, too, have traveled back in time and found myself in the same year you were born in, so I know it will take some time to process this information."

How would someone normally react to this? Because Naruto didn't know as he stared at the Hokage, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. A perfect impression of a goldfish. His hands grabbed the side of his head and a groan left his lips. "Time traveling, really?" He threw his head back, eyes closed in frustration with his hands furiously scratching his hair. "How the hell is that even possible?!"

Hiruzen understood Naruto's frustration very well. While he may have not had reacted as badly as the boy – all thanks to him being quick to understand a situation and dealing with it efficiently – he knew the emotional turmoil the blond must have been having inside.

Naruto heaved out a sigh and chose to just leave it alone. "Well, not that I'm not thrilled to see you again because I am, buuuut do you think you can send me back to my time? Konoha is-"

"I can't do that Naruto."

That lone sentence stopped the boy in his tracks.

"Wha…" Naruto made an inscrutable expression. "What're you talking about, jiji? You summoned me here, right? It shouldn't be too hard to send me back."

Hiruzen took a second to close his eyes in preparation to answer, a serious manner adopting his facial features. He was undoubtedly about to deliver life changing news. "Unfortunately I cannot do that, Naruto. The summoning scroll that brought you here only had one use, as it burned up completely right after you appeared. Besides that, I don't know of any other time-traveling methods." His face never broke from the stony expression, even in the face of a devastated Naruto. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

All of a sudden the boy felt heavy. He let his legs give out from underneath him, landing him into an upright position as he sat on the floor. His body was hunched over, letting his bangs shadow his eyes and leaving only his frown visible to the elder in the room.

Everything in his life just seemed to crumble before him.

The bonds that he had forged over the years had been severed with no small amount of kindness. He had earned them in many unique ways that others couldn't say the same. Whether it was because the felt drawn to his cheerful, friendly, headstrong demeanor; or because he had beaten them black and blue with his fists, Naruto had went to great length to become friends with all sorts of people. And that was destroyed in a snap.

Promises he had made, the ones that he had vowed to dedicate his whole life to accomplish, would never be fulfilled. His nindō – his ninja way – would forever be stained with an unsightly smear. It didn't matter that there was no one there to confirm it, so long as he would live, those promises that he had failed to make good on would follow him like a vengeful spirit.

And then there was the recognition he had earned, shedding blood, sweat, and tears to prove to people that he was a top-notch ninja. The one thing he yearned for from the start, the acceptance of the village, was just at the tip of his fingers that he could touch it and all that hard work he did to get it was snatched away from him. All of that acknowledgement and respect that had been garnered over the last few years had been wiped clean. Not a soul would remember his achievements.

They became wasted efforts.

Naruto stopped his thoughts right there. The inhaled deeply before he released it at a slow pace. Negative thoughts had begun to cloud his mind, dark and unwanted ones. It goes without saying, he didn't want them there. Crossing his legs with each other, he straitened his back and calmly closed his eyes like he learned back at Mount Myoboku with Fukasaku.

While this was the pose he used to gather natural energy around him, that wasn't the purpose of his action. The method of gathering said energy was, expectantly, relaxing to do. It gave him peace of mind as he put his concentration on staying still.

'Happy thoughts, Naruto, think happy thoughts. Your dad just renewed the seal so let's be more careful here. Look on the bright side!' thought the blond boy.

His mind latched on to the most important thing, recently. In his time, he had defeated the Akatsuki leader, so that means the biggest threat had been neutralized.

While Konoha was physically in shambles, it was a village and it could be rebuilt. The dead couldn't, not normally, but thanks to appeasing Nagato's vengeful wrath, the people that had died during the attack were brought back to life. With no reason left to hunt down the Bijuu's, Konan opted to return to Ame and lead them. Now, Konoha would be safe, at least for now. He wouldn't have to feel guilty over more comrades dying in order to protect him.

That was a plus.

And while it did suck that he would have to fight Akatsuki again, he practically knew the fighting abilities of at least half of them. And there was a possibility that he could talk Nagato out of capturing the Bijuu's just like he did before and stop any unneeded deaths in the future.

And among other things, there was a chibi Naruto that he could mold into an awesome ninja and prevent him from becoming the dead-last the class.

A smile played out on the blond's lips, the prospect of training his younger self becoming a high point in why he was going to enjoy this time traveling experience to the fullest. The sole thought of teaching chibi-Naruto the Rasengan made him shake in anticipation. This time, he would become the number one in the class with fan-girls cheering him on during spars and ogling him, demonstration his prowess! Not Sasuke, HIM!

Hiruzen could only raise a curious eyebrow as a dark chuckle left the meditating boy. He didn't know what Naruto was thinking but whatever it was appeared to be easing him from his heavy hart. That was good. The last thing he wanted was the blond to slip into a deep depression.

"Naruto," the Hokage called out, to which the boy responded and looked up at him. "I take it that you are okay with the situation."

The boy's lips thinned as he rose up to his feet. After dusting his bottom, he leveled the old man with a serious gaze. "Honestly, I'm kinda pissed that I won't be able to see my friends again." He received an understanding nod from the Sandaime before continuing. "But after some thinking on all the positives, I thought that it would be cool to fix things that went wrong before. That and I really don't like to be all negative and stuff. That's Sasuke's style so I'll leave that to him."

"I see," Hiruzen nodded with a smile. "That's good to hear. I don't know what I would do with myself if you came to hate me."

Naruto shrugged. "I'd probably be fine after hitting you with a Sennen Goroshi or two." Now with that was out of the way, the boy was able to recall what the old man said upon his entrance. "Hey, jiji! You said that this was dad's safe house, right? Does that mean he has some cool techniques stashed in here?"

Naruto rubbed his hands together greedily. He always loved learning a new ninjutsu; with the help of his Kage Bunshin technique, he'd be able to shorten the length of how long it would normally take to learn one.

"No, it doesn't, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen answered much to the boy's disappointment. "The scrolls he kept here have been sealed away years ago. Only your father's kunai are here and they're pretty useless since only Minato could use them." He pulled out a scroll from his robe and handed it to the blond who looked curiously at it. "I've sealed a new set of clothes in there for you, the ones you have now seem unusable."

Looking over his attire, Naruto could spot rips, dirt, and blood all over; he had even lost his orange coat that was given to him after completing his senjutsu training. Determining that he did in fact need a new wardrobe change he gladly accepted the scroll.

"I'll go wait outside while you change." Turning around and opened the door, but stopped under the doorway. Looking over his shoulder, he said one last thing to the boy. "Do take your time Naruto." And the door was closed shut.

Left alone to his own devices, Naruto walked to the desk in the corner. As soon as he was next to it, he dropped the scroll on its surface, unrolling upon contact. He pressed his palm against the center of the circular design and pushed a bit of chakra out, earning a small poof.

An orange long sleeved shirt and a pair of black pants revealed themselves from the smoke, folded squarely. On top of the clothing was a pair of black shinobi sandals. There was even an exact replicate of his black hitai-ate on the side.

It only took him a minute to replace his tattered clothes with the new ones.

The boy was ready to meet the Hokage outside when his eyes caught onto the photos that were laid facing down out on the desk. This was his father's safe house, which meant that those were personal pictures that Minato had kept. With a weary hand, he slowly inched towards one of the squares.

He picked the picture up and held it to his face.

It was a picture of a younger Tsunade, naked to the world as she relaxed in the hot spring and next to her was an equally bare Shizune who appeared to be around his age, if not a few years younger.

Naruto slammed the picture to the desk, sending the rest of the scattered ones flying into the air. "What the hell is this?!" A blush of red colored his cheeks and the boy failed to compose his face with anger as the corners of his lips threatened to quirk upwards. "Man, don't tell me dad was a super pervert too, dammit!"

Honestly, he had hoped that he would at least get a glimpse of his mother. Meeting his father had stirred interest into the person responsible for giving him life. If he had Minato's appearance, he wanted to know the one who gave him his personality.

Was a single photo of her too much to ask for?

Any chance to further vent his stopped when one of the photos in the air gently landed on top the desk, coincidentally, faced up in front of him.

In the picture were two people, a man and a woman. The man was his dead of course and he had his arms wrapped around a beautiful redhead with a baby bump. It didn't take that long for Naruto to connect the dots there. The two looked comfortable together in a pose that had a feeling of intimacy.

A tear rolled down his whiskered cheek as he lips stretched into a thousand-watt smile and his eyelids closed. A whisper of joy left him. "It's good to finally see you, kaasan."

It wasn't the meeting that Naruto wanted, and this by no means was the perfect face-time between mother and child, if this could even qualify as one. But Naruto would settle for it, deciding the moment passable at the bare minimum. Pocketing the picture as a safe keep, he wiped the tears from his cheek and rubbed his wet eyes with his sleeve.

Finally collecting himself, Naruto strode out of the safe house and came under a blue sky and an afternoon sun. Such a nice day.

Closing the door behind him, he came face to face with the Sandaime who flashed him a grin.

"Are ready to go?" Hiruzen asked, which was answered by a nod. He turned a full one-eighty degrees and started to walk back to Konoha, Naruto taking up his left side. "Good. My Kage Bunshin was just found out and the Konoha Council is not pleased."

They were pissed at him for leaving the Hokage office yesterday and without any company to their knowledge, no less. All he could do was roll his eyes at their displeased cries. To make them happy, he promised to not do it again. It wasn't kept, obviously, since he left a clone in his place to check on Naruto who had been unconscious for almost twenty hours.

Jiraiya was supposed to be watching over the boy, but seeing as there was only Naruto there told Hiruzen that the pervert was likely at the hot springs area, peeping at the woman as usual. Hirzuen would have to find a way to punish his former student later.

Entering the foliage of trees that remained between their destination and their current position, the two walked at a leisurely pace.

X

A smile stretched wide on Naruto's face as he took in the appearance of Konoha from atop of the Hokage monument. He drank in the countless buildings that made up the retail outlets, restaurants, apartments, and other general buildings. His cerulean eyes went from people to people, casually observing the village's populace.

They a looked happy and very much alive.

Now this would be the scene that Naruto would have preferred to come to when he was summoned back to Konoha.

For the blond boy who had seen the devastating disaster that had struck the hidden village, which ended up with the majority of the place being leveled _into_ the ground and a scarce amount of survivors, this was certainly a sight for sore eyes.

"You seem quite happy with the view of Konoha from here, Naruto." At the blond's side, Hiruzen observed the boy's face to get any insight to how he was treated in the few years that he had seem to put on. The Sandaime was pleased to see the joy in the teen's grin, along with the warmth that rested in Naruto's eyes. It was a rare thing to see since most of the time he saw the blond up here it was to sulk. "I take it that something nice has happened to you recently?"

The recent time-traveler saw the knowing smile on his grandfather figure's face. He returned it back with a closed-eye one with his hands behind his head and replied nonchalantly. "Yup! You could say something like that." The upbeat tone was failed to be hidden.

"Hmmm? Did Sakura finally take you on a date?"

"Urk!" Friendly fire shot, Naruto couldn't keep it together and visibly recoiled. His shoulders slumped in defeat and his head hung down with a dark cloud hovering over him. "Damn, old man. Don't be so merciless."

The chances he had with his female comrade went from zero to negative the moment he woke up in this timeline. Not that it was that big a deal. He wasn't the same love-struck idiot he was before he went on that training trip with Jiraiya. While his crush on the pinkette had reduced over time, he wouldn't have objected a date from her, though.

Like they say, you never forget your fist love or something like that.

"Sorry, boy," apologized the Hokage. He did feel truly sorry since he felt that Sakura wouldn't have given up on Sasuke after a few years. Love wasn't something that easy to get rid of; all he had to do was look at Jiraiya to see how far the truth went in that statement. Waving off the small sorrow he felt for his perverted student, the Sandaime returned his attention back to Naruto. "Seeing you after so many years, I just couldn't help myself."

Naruto scratch at the side of his head, a bit confused by the old man's words. "Really? Isn't there a chibi me here that you can mess with?"

"Ah, yes. There is, there is," Hiruzen affirmed, nodding. "It's just… different now."

"Is that so?" Naruto carefully asked after hearing the elder's uncertain reply. The man nodded. "Got it." While he could question it a thousand times to make him fess up, the anticipation to roam the new reality won him in the end. "Then if you don't mind, I've got places to visit and ramen to eat."

A few paces forward and the teen stood at the edge of the cliff. Leaning over the end, he found an intact red building that he was all too familiar with. Bending his knees slightly, he was ready to jump into his somewhat new home, but he was stopped by a hand on his right shoulder. Naruto looked back to find a serious visage on Hiruzen's old face.

"Hold on just a minute, Naruto. I understand that you are quite eager to explore Konoha, but we still have a problem." As Hiruzen expected, he was met with a bit of whining before the blond complied with removed enthusiasm. "You can't go around Konoha with you face like this, we'll need to fix it."

"Huh?!" Dumbfounded by the Hokage's reproachful statement, Naruto could only gape at him. In the teen's mind, the Sandaime had dissed his face. "Who you calling ugly, you old fart! Your wrinkled face makes Orochimaru look like a handsome movie star!"

"I didn't mean it like that." Hiruzen chuckled. He would have rolled his eyes at the blond's misunderstanding if it wasn't for the fact that he did it on purpose. Honestly, it had been for too long since he last teased his favorite knuckle-headed ninja, there would definitely be more to come after all the serious stuff was out of the way. "Your face stands out for a couple of reasons, though it mostly concerns what is on your cheeks. Whiskers aren't exactly normal, Naruto. Only one person has birth marks like those and that child is only 9 years old."

"Oh. Right." Realizing that there was another 'Naruto' who had that birth mark led the blond chuckled at his forgetfulness. He sheepishly smiled at the Sandaime, simultaneously scratching the back of his head. "Oops."

"Overlooking something as big as this, do you ever change Naruto?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto proclaimed with a happy face. "Remember how you always told me not to eat so much ramen because it would stunt my growth? Well guess what? I don't eat ramen three times a day anymore!" The ends of his lips grew, giving himself a fox-like grin. "I only eat ramen twice a day, now! Height be damned!"

Offering just a small moment to chuckle at the young time-traveler's attitude, Hiruzen focused back to the task at hand. "Anyways, although you can't show those whiskers around like that, since it would rouse suspicion, no doubt."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small glass bottle of black paint and a small ink brush.

A raised eyebrow from the blond said everything he needed to say. He was clueless to how paint would fix his dilemma. Was the Sandaime planning to write "nothing here" in kanji on each of his cheeks, because he failed to see how some cheap liquid would hide his birth marks? It would probably spill down his face the instant he worked up a sweat.

"This is your first time seeing war paint, isn't it Naruto?" Hiruzen could see the look of what-the-fuck in those blue eyes. Although a useful tool for blending in with the environment and masking facial features, war paint was a highly underrated item.

"Well, kind of, I guess. I've seen it all over Garaa's brother's face, Kankuro. But I'm pretty sure he uses way more than that." Naruto scratched the top of his head, unsure of himself. The tiny bottle in the Hokage's hands seemed like any ordinary paint that artists would use. Actually, he was pretty sure Sai had something that looked exactly like that. "Are you sure that's really war paint? You're pretty old so maybe your vision mixed war paint with the generic kind."

"It _is_ war paint," Hiruzen insisted before he scoffed at the blond teen's baseless assumption. "Brat, I maybe old in mind and spirit but that's not the case with my body. I may not look like it but this body is at least three years younger than the body you last saw at the Chunin exams."

"Three years younger?" Naruto repeated that line while Hiruzen popped the top off the ink bottle and tipped the brush inside it. A question came to the young time-traveler's mind. "Hey, jiji; you said that you traveled back in time just like I did, right?" A nod in response let him continue. "If your body's supposedly younger-"

"It is younger! I know that for a fact! I'm missing that liver spot on my ass that appeared a year before I died!"

"…I-" A liver spot was a blemish on the skin that associated with aging and exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation. How did the Sandaime achieve one in a place that was supposed to be regularly concealed? "I don't wanna know." He shook his head lifelessly. "I _really_ don't wanna know."

Chances are he would be scarred for the rest of his life if he did know.

Naruto inhaled the air around him deeply before exhaling a few seconds later. "Back to what I wanted to ask: if your body is younger, then that means that you weren't summoned here like me?"

Hirzuen shook his head, as he watched himself stir the brush through the bottle's narrow neck, a serious demeanor taking his face.

"That's correct, Naruto. Our time-traveling methods are different from each other. For me, my consciousness was brought to the past while my body didn't." What happened to the conscious that previously occupied this body, he didn't know. He found little curiosity to why that was. "You, on the other hand, physically traveled through time by a method, more or less, similar to how a ninja would summon their contracted animal. Thankfully, your body's state didn't regress to that of a child's."

No pointless nerfing, Hiruzen approved of that.

"Wait, you're saying that there was a chance that I could've been turned into a kid again?" Naruto held his shiver that came from the thought of being an incapable child. Being inside a less sturdy and reliable body sounded terrifying, honestly. That was the total opposite of what he wanted.

"Probably," the old man simply answered as he lifted the black-tipped brush to the teen's face. "Close your eyes; I don't wanna accidentally get paint on them." Blinding the person that's supposedly the future's hop was a bad thing and that would just add on to things that were his fault. Crummy old toad, he thought with disdain.

Doing what he was told, Naruto shot out another question as he felt a line being brushed on his left and right cheek. "So, if you're the one that summoned me to the past then who summoned you?"

"That's what I would like to know as well," Hiruzen murmured to himself, dipping the brush into the bottle. "I don't know who summoned me here, Naruto. I do not know why, either."

"Really?" He felt the brush stroke against his cheeks again.

"Yes, really." He re blackened the brushes tip once more. "I didn't meet a god that offered me another chance to live my life to re-write my mistakes, nor did I meet a group of powerful individuals that poured all their powers to summon me. When I died, all I saw was an eternal black that lasted for a brief moment before I found myself 9 years into the past." And that was the end of it.

He woke up in the past without a reason, but he hoped that whatever caused _this_ was just a freak coincidence. The last thing he wanted was to have been summoned by a time-traveler before him, hiding in the shadows while manipulating his every action as Hokage.

Hiruzen swiped the brush once more on Naruto's face and stuffed the ink bottle and brush back into his pocket. "Done. You can open your eyes now."

Light entered into his vision and the first thing he saw was the Hokage taking out a handheld mirror with a wooden frame. It was offered to him. "Thanks." Naruto expressed his gratitude, accepting the object into his grasp, before he got a good look at his reflection. The blond couldn't find the right words to express how he felt.

His whiskers were covered, that much he could tell but he had to question why _only_ that was covered.

The black ink was traced across his whiskers, not only becoming more visible from a distance but possibly making him look harmless. As a ninja, it could make the enemy less wary around them and take him more like a joke, but that was at the cost of his manly pride.

Giving the mirror back to the Sandaime, Naruto gave the man a blank stare. "You're kidding me, right? This is you just screwing with me like before, right?" It took all his willpower not to punch Hiruzen straight in that smug face, at least not before hearing him out. Premature beatings were rude after all. 'Ah, if only Sakura was like that.' The number of punches he received would have been decreased. "Why can't I just where a mask? It doesn't have to be cool like Kakashi's but I'm sure it would be a hellavalot better than this."

"Unless you're an Anbu member, wearing a mask outside of missions would make you look suspicious and untrustworthy. You can't convince people that you have good intentions when you can't trust them enough to show your face. This is especially true to someone like you who will be suddenly inserted into Konoha's ranks. No one will know you and my word can only keep you safe for so long." Hiruzen paused, letting the information sink into the teen's head. "When that happens, someone will try to expose your face which will only lead to you keep everyone at a distance, leaving you friendless. Knowing your personality, that would be unacceptable to you, correct?"

Naruto faced the Hokage with a troubled appearance.

Friendless for most of his childhood was nothing funny, more so when you were parent-less and lived in a negative and hostile environment. The boy had experienced that and the only thing that made it worthwhile was the friends he found in Iruka, Ayame, and Teuchi.

And then there were all the other bonds he made after becoming a genin; Team 7, the rest of his ninja peers in Konoha and those from outside of her walls, they were all too precious to him. And even though he lost them physically, they were still with him in his heart.

That was true no matter how lame and cheesy it sounded.

Breathing out an exaggerated sigh, Naruto looked towards the Hokage with a decent level of understanding in his eyes. "Alright I got it. You don't want me to live a life of lonesome and solitude, but instead live a healthy life surrounded by people I can treasure, yadda yadda." He smiled greatly at the Sandaime who seemed quite surprised to be figured out. "I know you always look out for me, jiji. I appreciate it a whole lot."

This level of comprehension from the boy he viewed as a grandson was stunning to say the least. Hiruzen was far too used to dealing with the simple minded pre-teen, that he overlooked the possibility that the Naruto he knew would have slightly matured over the years. This was enough to make him proud of the boy.

"Although, now that all those friendships I've earned were burned down pretty instantly, you're the only friend I have, you know?" Naruto was amused when Hiruzen visibly flinched at his words, no doubt burning with regret.

"But it was a random summoning," murmured the older man. The only hint he had that gave him some idea to who was chosen to be summoned was that the person was 'important to him'. To a man who lived as long as him, there were many to choose from.

In return to the weak reasoning Naruto turned his head away from him and crossed his arms. It just meant that someone other than him might have ended up in his position. A minute or two passed as Naruto let Hiruzen simmer in his shame. While not being the closest to what the old man truly deserved, it satisfied him for now.

Facing back towards Konoha's leader, he flashed him with an easy going smile. "Relax gramps. I'm just pulling your leg here, all in good fun." Partially anyways. Presently, he was older than his now-former friends by a number of years meaning that he couldn't just associate with them casually. At least not when they weren't in their teen years yet. He'd have to find friends closer to his age, like Iruka or Ayame… didn't Kiba have a sister older than him by a few years? Hell, why not her? "I'm sure I'll be able to make a few friends in no time!"

"And I'm sure that they will be glad to be friend of yours," commented the Sandaime with a grateful face. That merry and good-natured disposition the blond carried himself with had always been one of his selling points.

"Yup!" Naruto shouted, vigorously nodding his head before he brought attention back to his bold whiskers. It still didn't answer why Hiruzen did what he did. "Alright, war paint seems like the better option to hide my birth marks with but can't you, I don't know, _actually hide them_!"

The elder Hokage closed his eyes in response, a calm, sage-like air whirling around him. After several long seconds his lids slowly opened to reveal hardened eyes. "This is a basic ninja strategy, Naruto; hiding in plain sight." A blank gaze followed. "It should have been obvious from the start. Didn't you learn this in class?"

Naruto looked away from Hiruzen's pointed stare. It wasn't his fault, lessons were dull and boring.

If anyone was to blame then it would be the teachers fault for not being engaging enough. Iruka would fall into that group, regrettably.

The scarred nose man was nice and sincerely friendly to him – as opposed to most others – however that didn't change the man's dull teaching skills. He had always been a by-the-book kind of man. No excitement there, unfortunately.

"Well… it can't be helped." Usually, Hiruzen would reprimand the blond for not paying attention in class, but he had graduated years ago and managed to keep himself alive thus far. What purpose would a scolding serve? Nothing, that's 'what'. "The best part about war pain is that it isn't easily removed, water and sweat will become trivial when it concerns smudging dangers."

Water and sweat resistant? Coating the surface of his thumb with a lick of his tongue, Naruto rubbed the wet appendage against his painted cheeks to scrub off the ink. A spotless thumb revealed his wasted effort. "Huh. I guess that's pretty neat."

Compared to Kankuro whose face was lined with purple across his face, Naruto had a modest amount which solely covered his whisker marks. Even if it did smudge, it wouldn't reach his eyes. Unveil his real birthmarks, sure, but not a blinding hazard.

"Okay, sure it _does_ cover my birthmarks, but I'm pretty sure people are gonna be wondering why exactly do I have whiskers on my cheeks?" Naruto could already feel the barrage of comment that were going to be thrown at him, and unwanted attention that his markings would receive. "What do I tell them? I'm a cat freak? I'd say fox but I really don't think they want to remember the Kyuubi incident."

Not that it mattered since there was another him here that was probably taking the flak for the fallout of that disaster.

"If it's asked from a civilian, answering them isn't necessary. Ninja business is not their business. But if that is too much for you, feel free to lie to them, though please make sure your responses don't overly differentiate from one person to the other. Complaints from civilians are the last thing I want to read about. As for the regular ninja forces-" The Sandaime stopped in mid-sentence as he felt the area around him. He sensed the arrival of a group of four. "It seems our time has come to an end. We will have to finish this another time."

"What do you…" Looking behind the Hokage, Naruto noticed the unexpected appearance of an Anbu squad. All of them on one knee, waiting to be ordered by their leader. The blond understood that this was the end of their conversation.

"If someone questions you, tell them that it was done on the Hokage's orders. Now go."

While he was uncertain about what he was told, the Anbu made him feel uneasy, so without any reserves, the young time-traveler jumped off the cliff and used gravity to plummet to the building below him.

Hiruzen was left to stand above the Hokage monument with his personal Anbu. His hands dipped into his pocket and after a short rummage he pulled out his wooden pipe. There was already tobacco in it so all he did next was light it.

'I didn't get to explain to him how I would clarify the similarities between him, and Minato and Naruko. Oh well. That problem probably went over his head.' Chuckling momentarily, he turned around to look at his personal Anbu team. They were in the standard diamond formation.

"Tenzo! Front and center!"

Being called out by the Hokage, an Anbu member broke off from the side and quickly appeared a couple of steps from the Sandaime, still kneeling before his ruler. He wore the same outfit as the rest of his colleagues with the only notable difference being on the mask he wore. A plain white mask that was had a cat face theme was painted with green ink.

"Hawk! Take the rest with you and inform the Konoha Council and the clan leaders that there will be a conference tonight!"

"Hai!"

And just like that, there were two.

The cat-masked Anbu member was left with him.

Hiruzen gave him one simple order.

"Tenzo, the shinobi that departed a while ago is Naruto. I need you to follow him from a distance…"

X

Although Naruto was excited to examine the past places he knew, he didn't exactly have many spots to visit.

Off the top of his head, Ichiruka's Ramen Stand, the Third Training Ground, and his own house where the only places he had frequently visited when he was not out on a mission. The hospital was also on that list due to how frequent he got himself mildly-to-severely injured but he was always there by the force known as Tsunade. It didn't count since it wasn't by the boy's own accord.

Thankfully Naruto didn't have to look far for his first stop. It was literally right beneath his feet when he jumped off the Hokage Monument.

The trip there wasn't long, not by a long shot. Since the Academy – along with its other half that served as the Administrative division – was located right below the Hokage monument so all he had to do was carefully scale down the cliff.

Using the Transparency Escape Jutsu – a technique he learned from Jiraiya that rendered the user invisible – Naruto went from the roof to the courtyard where spars between students took place. He landed right in front of the red, two-door entrance.

Classes were done for the day, most likely, so he didn't expect to see his past-self or his classmates. That meant staff members would only be there, and if he was lucky, he would probably be able to meet Iruka. Not face to face since they didn't know each other and he couldn't find an excuse to meet the Chuunin in person.

'But that also means I'll probably see Mizuki, too,' he thought in distaste. That was an unfortunate possibility since Naruto pretty much hated the guy. After all, that teacher had deceived him into stealing an important scroll, and then tried to kill him out of blind hatred for the Kyuubi afterwards. Although it hasn't happened yet, it was a situation that would come true in in just a few short years.

Before Naruto had a chance to approach the Academy's entrance, one of the doors began to creak open.

Not even a second after, Naruto slipped into invisibility and jumped back onto the school roof. He landed on the edge in a crouch, waiting for the figure to come out. Thankfully, the person leaving the Academy was in no rush to leave so Naruto was not caught.

These actions were without a doubt unnecessary, he realized. It's not like he wasn't allowed to be on school ground but he reacted without thinking. Now that he was up here, he decided to just go in after the person left.

From the red colored entrance, a child came out. It was a little girl with short blue hair, wearing a black shirt and black pants that lacked style and looked to be used for combat training. Naruto was able to distinguish who this person was in a second. 'Eh? Isn't that Hinata?'

His mouth became a thin line as he looked at her walking towards the only swing that hung from under the tree line. It was the spot he had occupied when he watched his classmates get picked up by their parents.

The Hyuuga heiress was a nice and gentle girl, yet Naruto couldn't smile. In the deep pit of his stomach, all he could feel was guilt and self-loathe.

The scene of her standing up for him against Pein was still fresh in his mind.

While he was pinned to the ground by Pein's black receivers, Hinata had tried to protect him by confronting the man directly. Pein knew she was putting up a useless struggle. Naruto knew she was putting up a useless struggle. Even Hinata, herself, knew that struggling against the enemy was a futile attempt, but even so, she stood her ground. And the outcome of that was brutal, as obvious as it was.

She didn't stand a chance against the man who possessed the Rinnegan and within a few minutes she was put down in a vicious assault.

At the end of it all, she laid on her stomach in front of Naruto, vulnerable, before a black receiver was stabbed into her back. That was the last thing the blond saw before he lost himself to his hatred.

'She confessed to me back there, didn't she…' he thought. It wasn't a question. He wouldn't dare pretend as if those words never reached his ear.

Although he couldn't really give an exact answer to how he felt about Hinata – especially since he felt the only love interest in his life was Sakura, albeit one-sided on his end and less strong than before his training trip with Jiraiya – Naruto would have given an honest reply. Throwing her feelings under the rug was far too insensitive for his liking.

The blond gave a silent sigh, shaking his head lightly. "What's the use of thinking about it," he whispered to no one but himself as he watched the girl climb onto the swing. The past become his present while his present becoming the future.

Nothing would change if he dwelled on Hinata's confession to him since it had basically been nulled in a single moment. The girl on the swings was not the Hyuuga he knew, not the one who said _"I love you"_. The 9 year old Hinata he was observing was just another random child to him and to her, he was just a stranger.

Naruto continued to watch the girl a few moments longer. She did nothing other than gently swing with a thoughtful look while she gazed at the ground. At some point she grew board and left the swing to look at the tiny clearing behind her that had a narrow path running through it.

Although Naruto never remembered Hinata as someone with a keen interest in flowers, he did remember that all the kunoichi were assigned flower arranging classes, so Naruto assumed that she was practicing. A sufficient guess, the blond thought. She was a good student after all.

As Hinata went on with her business, Naruto kept observing her for about another minute or two before he realized that… what he was doing right now was pretty creepy. An image of himself with white skin and serpent-like eyes flickered in his mind and he shivered as if ice pricked his back. Now there was an image he could've lived without.

Okay, he really needed to get his head in gear.

Simultaneously stepping off the roof and undoing the jutsu, he landed in front of the building's doors with a dull tap against the ground.

Just when Naruto was about to leave the girl alone to enter the Academy, he peaked over his shoulder to get one last look at the girl when he saw a group of three boys arrived a few meters behind Hinata as she squatted down to stare at a colorful patch of flowers. The boys were lined side by side; two lanky boys flanked the sides of a chubby one. Judging by the looks on their faces, they had less than friendly intentions.

The blond frowned in displeasure. As someone who had been a victim to verbal abuse and constant belittlement – thus making him a social pariah – bullying wasn't something Naruto was going to overlook. He never had when he was a child and it never changed as he grew older.

Naruto marched towards the kids with steps only slightly quicker than normal, his eyes glued to the immature display of boys pointing and mocking the Hyuuga. With every foot that closed between the gap between and his destination, the display continued undisturbed.

The situation hadn't escalated yet so Naruto was content with his speed. By the way things have been playing out Hinata had not even acknowledged them at all. She stayed in a crouch. A smile played out on her face as her fingers fiddling with the flower's petals like any interested little girl would.

Her actions only served to frustrate the boys; their frowns growing by the second, especially on the fat boy who took an intimidating step towards her. "Hey! Can't you hear me!" yelled the furious fat kid, pointing a sharp finger in the girl's direction. "Don't ignore me!"

But even that didn't startle the Hyuuga and for a moment, the three surprised boys didn't know what to do. Hinata just went on with her business.

Naruto had to admit, arriving right next to the swing, that she was handling herself quite nicely. Much more than he thought she could since the Hinata he remembered as a child was easily frightened.

He remembered this one time when he surprised her by popping out of nowhere, their faces only inches apart, she immediately passed out afterward. She turned cherry red too but he didn't really know what that was all about. She regularly wore a coat under Konoha's hot sun, so it could've been the heat that turned her skin a different shade.

If Hinata was capable of handling this then he wouldn't intrude, not more than necessary. A child fighting their own battles was good, especially one aspiring to be a ninja. Hopefully, all he would be in this situation was a silent observer.

"F-Fine! Be that way!" The fat boy was able to recompose himself, his eyebrows dipping to the center that coupled with a scowl.

The two at his side were able to follow suite at a moment's notice, obviously being used to mimicking their 'leader' of sorts. The group advanced on the girl until they were merely two steps away.

Almost in arm's reach.

The fat boy crossed his arms, a smirk planted on his face as he faced away from her. He ran his mouth with the air of a conceited jerk. "You know, it's better that you don't look over here. That way, we don't have to see you creepy eyes that your clan all have. Isn't that right guys?" At his side, the two lanky kids nodded in support, going as far as throwing in a _"yeah!"_ to emphasize.

The moment Naruto planned to make a move, his senses tipped off. The one that told him that a female was incredible pissed off. Yeah, something like that tends to develop when you keep on irritation the Legendary Sucker and her disciple as much as Naruto did.

"Tch!" Hinata clicked her tongue, her bangs now shadowing her eyes. Her gaze never left the flower she was gently rubbing between her thumb and finger. A tulip, Naruto identified offhandedly. "Damn annoying brats, can't you tell when you're not wanted or are you too stupid to understand that?"

"Ehhhhh?!" Naruto couldn't help it, he lost control of his voice from his wide open mouth. Though it went unnoticed the other four in the area; the boys were too stupefied to register anything and the Hyuuga still seemed set on ignoring everything around her. She must've really liked those flowers.

"Wh-What?" The leader of the trio couldn't help but stutter, surprised that the little girl with a seemingly soft exterior was able to have such a vicious tongue. He even reeled his hand back from the verbal backlash. But that surprise only lasted a moment before he was back to normal. "Who're you calling brats when you're the same age as us? Are you blind or something with those dumb eyes?"

"Trash," Hinata called out in a low, menacing tone. She stood straight up and turned around to come face to face with the fat boy. He was not greeted by a happy face. "Speaking with someone as foul and brutish as you is unpleasant, leave now before I make you."

The leader of the trio couldn't help but answer in a trembling voice. "Wh-What?" He pointed and equal shaking finger at the girl to try and salvage the tough-guy facade that was crumbling bit by bit. "Wh-Wh-Who do you think you are to act all better than us?!"

Hinata scoffed at those fumbling words, not feeling threatened in the least. The girl stood up with an annoyed expression and turned to face the fat boy, her arms crossed across her chest, leveling him with a heated glare with her pupil-less eyes. Naruto had to admit that even he almost felt fearful for a moment. _Almost_. "Who am I? I'm someone that can beat the snot out of you and force you to eat it if you keep pointing your dirty finger at me."

The two lanky boys gasped in surprise, unconsciously taking a step back in preparations to retreat. The only reason they didn't was because of the last person of their group.

In contrast, the fat boy went from terrified to rage. Red-face and teeth clenched, the leader of the trio found control of his body and reintroduced a firm finger just inches away from Hinata's nose, much to her continuous displeasure. "Shut it, Hyuuga! You're full of it, just like the rest of your clan! You think your white eyes are so great, but they're not! They're weird and disgusting, and it just makes you look like a big freak!"

Naruto saw a menacing smirk plastered on Hinata's face that seemed crossed with anger and amusement.

"Heh." The girl grabbed the fat boy's offending limb by the wrist, causing him to squawk and his companions to turn tail. She grabbed it roughly. Like a snake preventing its prey from escaping its grasp the Hyuuga increased her grip when she felt the boy attempt to flea just as his two lackeys did a second ago. "That's the third time you made fun of my eyes." Her hand constricted once again. "It's starting to piss me off."

The fat boy's pain was obvious.

Besides the anguish pleads that left his mouth, he kept up his effort to pull away from strong hand that held him while trying to pry her fingers open with his free hand. Futile, he realized but he couldn't stop his movements. Desperate for freedom, desperate to get as far away from the Hyyga as possible, he tried to punch her in the face.

Sneering at her victim's struggle, Hinata sent a swift kick between the boy's legs before the on-coming fist could make it half. It worked effectively. The fat boy was lifted and inch or two off the ground and he fell down on both knees. He didn't hit the dirt yet because the girl still had his wrist.

Noticing that the boy still had his finger out didn't sit well for the Hyuuga, she saw it as resistance. That's when she decided that he could just shove it. Twisting the hand so that the fat boy could face it, she lined up her shot and shoved the index favor straight into his nose.

'Maybe next time you'll know when not stick your nose into someone else's business. HAH! …alright, that was horrible.' Naruto slapped his hand to his face and dragged it down in shame.

"Hey! Stupid lolicon over there!"

"Hm?" He looked to her before he realized before he realized what he was called. Strange, he didn't feel as insulted as he should have been. Not a good sign. Be that as it may, he still felt like denying it. "Woah, wait a minute! I am NOT a lolicon!"

Hinata released the fat boy she had been dealing with – who scrambled to his feet and escaped the scene like his life depended on it – and crossed her arms over her chest and faced the blond, a blank stare presented.

"Sure, whatever." Turning away from him and to one of the paths that lead away from the small clearing the Hyuuga took three steps forward then stopped. She looked over her shoulder and gave Naruto an icy glare. "How long are you going to stand there and stare at me? The peepshow is over, pervert, go spy on some other kid."

And that was Naruto's first meeting with Hyuuga Hinata.

"Okay… what the hell just happened?!"

Oh god, he hoped nothing else was different.

O

 **[AN]** Originally, this chapter was going to be longer, somewhere around 20k+ words. But after three months, I have only been able to complete 4 scenes for a total of 11k words. I decided to publish it now in favor of delaying it for another month or so. Hopefully, I can finish the rest of what I wanted in chapter 3 by the end of the year.

 _ **Harem (in no specific order):**_

Satsuki (Fem!Sasuke)

Naruko

Karui

Tayuya

Tenten

Temari

Fu

Karin

Anko

Probabably: Kin, Kurotsuchi, Ayame, (Sāra? Sarada? Y'know, to keep up the time traveling thing here?)

That's all I can confirm for now, do expect a few more to come. Until then, later!


End file.
